What Matters: Factors Influencg Gay Consumers' Evaluatns of "Gay-Friendly" Corporate Activi on JSTOR

Contents:

• KEYNOTE ADDRS: CONSUMER CULTURE AND POLIL RISTANCE—HOW GAY ENTREPRENRS SPARKED A MOVEMENT
• FRIENDSHIP TROUBLE: AN EXAMATN OF THE GAY BT FRIEND INTY AMERIN CONSUMER CULTURE
• TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
• APPEARANCE AND SELF-PRENTATN REARCH GAY NSUMER CULTUR: ISSU AND IMPACT
• REPRENTG FIFTY SHAS OF GAY THE LGBTQ+ MARKETPLACE

KEYNOTE ADDRS: CONSUMER CULTURE AND POLIL RISTANCE—HOW GAY ENTREPRENRS SPARKED A MOVEMENT

AbstractThe creasg visibily of homosexualy society, bed wh the lbian and gay muny's nsirable buyg power, has triggered marketers and rearchers' tert unrstandg homosexual nsumers' nsumptn patterns.

Prr rearch on whether homosexual nsumers behave differently om heterosexual nsumers has yield mixed rults, and rearchers and practners still do not know whether any substantial differenc exist, what the differenc look like, and how they n be explaed. Fdgs om a morator analysis ntradict nventnal wisdom and lay theori, while partly supportg assumptns that are rooted evolutnary and blogil theori that show nsumptn differenc crease wh age; they crease when parg homosexuals and heterosexuals of the same genr. Redrsg a 2016-iated brilliantly subversive but also highly divisive mpaign where fully lored s famo rabow-lored packagg to honor the ‘most important rabow’ (ntroversial bee some perceived the all-whe sign as promotg the racist whe pri movement) for 2021 partnered wh GAY TIMES and LGBTQ+ helple Swchboard to lorize black-and-whe archive photos om Pri celebratns of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Documentary shorts, stills and quot featured across Gay Tim’ portfol, on Reebok and (footwear retailer) Schuh’s social media platforms, and activatns Schuh flagships.

FRIENDSHIP TROUBLE: AN EXAMATN OF THE GAY BT FRIEND INTY AMERIN CONSUMER CULTURE

“Sport is a fascatg place bee statistilly LGBTQ+ people tend to be more unf – fuelled by the way profsnal sports is a very heteronormative terra; nsir the environment that exists that means there are currently no openly Gay profsnal footballers the UK, and what that means to LGBTQ+ nsumers. Bankg too, is ripe for an update (as an dtry wh servic predomantly ground heterosexual fay-centered liftyl) and mental health, another space where LGBTQ+ behavrs tend to differ; GAY TIMES is also early discsns about a project wh Anglo-Amerin mdfulns app, Headspace. For 2021 was reterpreted aga as #ProudInMyCalvs featurg artists cludg rerd producers Ar and Honey Dijon celebratg fg moments the queer and trans journey, followed by GAY TIMES own story-sharg via s newly formed GT133 group of TikTok-based ntent creators (a micro llective who rpond to topil stori at speed).

” Warner reveals that GAY TIMES is currently discsg a partnership regardg this foc wh a datg app (tails to be revealed later this) anchored fdg love rather than hook-ups. A very different creature to the pre-Warner era where the dience was domated by whe, gay, fortysomethg men ( now boasts an equal genr spl and a broad trans-generatnal mix, om tweens to those their 60s and 70s) Warner reveals GAY TIMES is planng to build on s transn om pure publisher-to-brand builr by beg a full “cultural platform verg rmatn, products and servic. His first book, The Lavenr Sre: The Cold War Persecutn of Gays and Lbians the Feral Government, which has been ma to a crilly acclaimed documentary, explor Cold War hysteria over natnal secury and the troductn of “fay valu” to Amerin polics.

Conttg the notn that a gay market veloped only recently the wake of gay activism, Johnson challeng nventnal unrstandgs of the relatnship between nsumer culture and polil ristance. He has held fellowships at the Natnal Humani Center, the Smhsonian Instutn, the Social Science Rearch Council, CUNY’s Center for Gay and Lbian Studi, and the Leather Archiv and Mm, and addn to several book awards has been regnized for his teachg and rearch. Recently popular televisn programs such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which picts the make-over of a straight male by five gay hosts, displays characteristics associated wh the gay muny allowg for the absorptn of stereotyp.

TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED

While the prence of gay characters the media shows a movement towards greater acceptance of homosexualy, the modifitn of gay stereotyp monstrat the hegemonic nature of mass culture and the jtifitn of exploatn through tolerance. He also serv as a Rint Assistant; Director of Gay, Lbian, Bisexual, Transgenr Issu for the unrgraduate ernment; and is a member of the Orr of the Cross and Crown honor society. This study seeks to addrs this void by offerg an analysis of the gay bt iend through an examatn of the quali that nstute the gay bt iend inty as is prented Amerin nsumer culture.

The quali are ascertaed through an analysis of popular Amerin televisn shows and movi featurg gay bt iend characters—Will & Grace, Ugly Betty, Glee, Sex and the Cy, Burlque, The Devil Wears Prada, and Sex and the Cy 2. This say propos five tegori through which one n unrstand the quali of the gay bt iend inty: socenomic stat, the body, personal relatnships, behavr, and lack of agency.

The tegori nstct the gay bt iend inty as one that is pletely modified and sentialized and that, although touted as an ditn of creasg acceptance of gay people, nstut ltle more than a new form of opprsn. Contemporary culture has bee saturated wh the gay bt iend; the July, 2010 issue of Teen Vogue pots out “the mt-have ems [for a fashnable teenage girl] clud a Proenza Schouler tie-dyed top, a shnken ary jack, neon bright chunky bracelets, and … a gay bt iend” (Talbot, 2010, page number). Ined, the gay bt iend n even be found on the shelv of booksellers natnwi Terrance Dean’s (2010) book, Straight om Your Gay Bt Friend: The Straight-Up Tth About Relatnships, Work, and Havg a Fabulo Life.

APPEARANCE AND SELF-PRENTATN REARCH GAY NSUMER CULTUR: ISSU AND IMPACT

Though the reprentatns of the gay bt iend are fictnal, the pervasivens of the inty poss as one wh the potential to affect the lived experience of real people a myriad of ways. One potential effect of this inty is the perpetuatn of the opprsive cultural unrstandg of gay men as eful for style advice, terr sign, sassy ments, their abily to cut hair, and ltle else.

In addn to ntributg to the margalizatn of gay men as a whole, this uld further margalize gay men who do not fill the role of the gay bt iend if the inty be signifintly more accepted than other gay inti. This should not e as a surprise, though, as gay culture has been heavily modified nsumer culture, the system where lkag between rourc, material and symbolic, and meangs, lived experience, and inty are created, mataed, and negotiated by markets (Arnould, 2010). This is exemplified Bravo’s h seri Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which promot gayns as a mody that n improve one’s life and shows viewers where gayns n be bought (Kooijman, 2005).

Addnally, the targetg of the gay muny by “ol hunters, ” agents who would document aspects of gay culture and pch the aspects to pani lookg to make their products and advertisg “oler” (Kle, 1999), illtrat the high mody value of gayns. Prev rearch has foced on heterosexual women who beiend gay men (Buckley, 2008; Maland, 1991; Moon, 1995; Thompson, 2004), the relatnships between gay bt iends and heterosexual women (Comer & Ldsey, 2007; Shepperd, Coyle, & Hegarty, 2010), and whether media reprentatns of gay men are posive or negative (Hart, 2004; Kooijman, 2005). This study seeks to addrs this void by offerg an analysis of the gay bt iend through an examatn of the quali that nstute the gay bt iend inty as is nstcted Amerin nsumer culture.

REPRENTG FIFTY SHAS OF GAY THE LGBTQ+ MARKETPLACE

As his female iend’s sikick, the suatnal edy’s gay bt iend’s behavr elics lghter om the dience, obscurg the social stctur supportg homophobia by divertg the dience’s attentn om the stctur to his il behavr (Gray, Jon, & Thompson, 2009). Bee the gay bt iend character is not nfed to one genre, and gay bt iend characters om different genr share many attribut— is both possible and necsary for an analysis of the gay bt iend to clu characters om multiple genr. In addn to boastg high viewership, the televisn shows and movi span the time perd over which the gay bt iend rose to promence, which allows the vtigator to observe the chang the nstctn of the gay bt iend inty over time.

((Though there are certaly other televisn shows and movi ntag gay bt iend characters, the shows and movi feature their gay bt iend characters more promently than many other shows.